Top and spinning device therefor



Dec. 19, 1950 o. THORESEN 2,534,538

TOP AND SPINNING DEVICE THEREFOR Filed Dec. 12, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY S Dec. 19, 1950 o. THORESEN 2,534,538

I TOP AND SPINNING DEVICE THEREFOR 7 Filed Dec. 12, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Oscar T/Zoresen 2%, Maqa/MM ATTORNEY S Patented Dec. 19, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOP AND SPINNING DEVICE THEREFOR Oscar Thoresen, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application December 12, 1945, Serial No. 634,456

3 Claims.

My inventionrelates to games and toys, and particularly togames or toys in-. which a spinning top: is, subject to they control and skill ofthe player, caused to advance upon a movable playing surface from one: position toanother. The invention;- consists inv certain new and useful structural improvements. in such apparatus, as well. as; in means for spinning the top, and in the top per set The invention; will be understood upon referencetothe accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig; l is a view partly in side elevation and partly'in vertical section of a. top-spinning device off the invention, showing a top positioned in the device;

Fig; 2 is'a viewofi the device as seen from above Fig. 1, with aportion, of the. device broken away toindicate the manner inwhich a draw-string is arranged to spin the:- top;

3. is a: side viewofv the device in inverted position; withthe. top arranged with. a propeller blade-which is adapted, upon' rapid rotation of the top; to rise from engagement with the top and soarawayin the air;

Fig. 311; is a fragmentary view, showing to larger scalea portion of the-structure shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 4 is. a view inperspective; on smaller scale; of a playing" hoard uponwhichthe top may be spun and-,fwhile spinning, caused to advance through: a. series of playing positions: or a; pathway;

Fig. 5 is a View similar to- Fig; l of a modified playing board; and;

Figs. 6 and 7-: are views in perspective; and on still smaller scale, of a playing: board of still an:- other form-a; board of paddle-like structure. In Fig; 6 the-bottom of theboard appears and in Fig. 7; the top appears.

In general the game or toy apparatus comprisessa playing boardhaving a; hardsurfaceupon which a" spinning; top. may he supported. The boardisadapted in; the hands of the player to be; tiltedthis way and that. whereby the spinning-top may hecausedto travelover the surface of" the board in atprescribed course from one playing position to another. The obiect of the game is; to effect the prescribed movementzof" the top in the interval between the time the top. is set in rotation on the. playing surface and: the time; which the inertiaand momentum of: the top are spent and rotation ceases. The apparatus includes a device for spinning the top. and. the

top itselfincludes certain. structural. improve.- ments: which. will be described after considering the game boards ofll' igs, 4; to '7 andthe manner of their: use.-

The game board of Fig. 4. comprises a sheet or plate 2 having arail or marginal-bead 3. The plate 2 has a hard, smooth surface that will susa spinning top with a minimum of resistance against rotation or movement of the. top. over the surface when the board is tilted. A plate of metal or of hard fibre board, or a rigidsheet. of plastic material, such as urea formaldehyde, provides a suitable material of which to. form the body 2 of the playing board. A. tortuous pathway is formed-in the board by cutting therein a system of slots 4, and thepathway thus formed leads-from a playing position 5 tea playing position- 5.. A- top, presently to be described, is set in rotation at the position 5, and the prayer, by tilting the board one way and. another from horizontal position, causes the spinning top to travel along the pathway outlined by arrows. If the player is skillful he will be ableto cause the topto travel the entire length. of the. twisting pathway fromposition 5 toposition 6. before the top has stopped spinning; it being understood that by tilting the boardrelatively acutely the speed of travel may be increased, as need be, to permit the top while spinning to travel the entire length of the pathway, but by increasing the speed of travel of the topitbecomesdifiicult to keep. the top from running afoul one of the grooves in which event the play must be started from the beginning again. Such is the nature of the game, which is very interesting and reouiresa great deal of play before the required skill is developed to succeed in the object.

In further elaboration, the board 2 is provided with two holes 5!} and 58, and: a. ball B (say a Ping-pong ball loaded with lead. shot) is freely sea-ed in thehole 5d. The object is to keep the ball seated while manipulating the board to adspinning top from position 5 toposition When the top reaches the position 6. it

caused to: move-against the ball B and to dislodge it from the hole and tocause. it to roll to the larger hole 553-, through which the ball falls. In. fact: by extending the area of the board at position 6. there may be two holes 59 provided to seat twoballs B, andtwo holes 58 to provide for the discharge of the balls from the playing surface, it being understood that the n-ning top maybe moved against. one. ball then the other, to dislodge-them from seated positions. whereupon. the balls may, by shifting the to and fro, be caused to fall. through the holes.

The game may be rendered yet more difilcult by bending certain. of the pathway-defin p ticns of the board a upward at a slight an l from the normal plane of the grooves which border such portions, for in such way the feel of the player in tilting the board must be varied as the spinning top reaches various points in the length of the pathway.

In Fig. is shown a playing board 2a having a rim or bead 3a which is provided with a plurality of playing positions in the form of wickets 4a that are arranged as a miniature of a croquet court. The top is set in rotation at position 511, and the object is (by tilting the board) to effect the travel of the top through the several wickets as indicated by the arrow. If the entire course or path indicated is traversed and position 6a reached before the spinning top stops, the player has successfully completed one game. The game may be repeated, as may the game on board 2, until as between several competing players one player has successfully finished the course more often than the others.

In still further modification, the board may take the form of the paddle 2b illustrated in Figs. 6 and '7. In the use of this board the top is set in rotation on the under side of the paddle, which appears turned upward in Fig. 6, with a spinning top I thereon. The upper side of the board includes four corner recesses 51) and a central recess 5b, formed within the face of the board, these recesses providing the several playing positions. In play, after the top I has been set in rotation on the back of the board, the board is flipped to throw the top in the air; then the board is rotated into the position shown in Fig. 7 to catch the top on the upper surface of the board, preferably in one of the recesses therein, but if not the board may be tilted to cause the top to move into the desired recess. Then, the top is flipped into the air and caught on the back of the board; again the top is flipped into the air and caught on the front of the board and moved into another of the recesses 5b, 5b; and so the operation is repeated until the spinning top has been brought into position in each of the recesses and returned to the starting side of the board (Fig. 6). plete the game successfully, all of these manipulations, after the top has been once set in rotation, must be completed before the top comes to rest.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the top 1 comprises a vertical spindle 8 of metal from which a circular disk-shaped metal body 9 extends radially. The lower point or end ill of the metal spindle is hardened and polished, so that the top may rotate with minimum friction upon the hard surface of the playing board. Additionally, the mass of the body 9 is, to the end in view, concentrated nearer to the pointed lower end of the spindle than to the upper end. Means, in the form of two depending pins H spaced on diametrically opposite sides of the spindle, are provided on the top body for a purpose later herein to appear. The body of the spindle above the body 9 consists in three portions l2, l3 and M of successively decreased diameter.

The device for spinning the top comprises a handle portion and a terminal portion or bearing it of bifurcated form. The portions l5 and I5 are integrally formed of wood in this case, and in the bearing portion it; two spaced metal bearings I! and [8 are aligned to receive the spindle 8 of the top, with the medial body portion it of the spindle exposed between the bearings, and providing a recess 19 for the passage In order to comportions l2 and l of the spindle in a loose fit that permits the spinning device to be readily lifted free from the spindle.

In the recess l9 a leaf-spring 2| is arranged as shown, the spring being anchored at one end to the body portion l6 of the device, and extending in a resilient leaf portion that is adapted to press the body of the draw-string against the portion 13 of the top spindle exposed between the bearings I! and I8, such body portion l3 of the spindle being knurled, as illustrated.

a. The knurling comprises friction means that inhibits slip in the engagement of the draw-string with the spindle. In assembling the draw-string and the top with the device, the body of the string is inserted in the space or recess between bearings H and 58 before the top spindle is fitted in the bearings. The string is pressed against the leaf spring and the spring pressed in a direction towards the handle portion l5. Then, the spindle 8 is inserted in the bearings and the spring released, the spring urging the body of the draw-string against the knurled portion of the spindle, as shown in Fig. 2. The drawstring is adjusted 50 that one end is adjacent one side of the device, leaving the remaining body of the string extending from the opposite side, butit will be noted that the body of the string is so extended from the spindle of the top that the engagement of the string with the spindle is effective through approximately The device is advantageously provided with a sturdy support portion 22, comprising herein a metal l g-like element secured on the handle portion 55 adjacent to the terminal portion IS. in service the device is positioned with the lower end of the support portion 22 bearing on the surface of the playing board upon which the top is to be spun, and when so positioned the point it of the top rests upon or immediately above such surface at the starting position (5 or 5a). With the device thus held and steadied in one hand of the player, the draw-string 2B is rapidly pulled with the other hand, the drawstring being pulled entirely through and out of the recess 9. The string operates upon the spindle of the top as a belt acts on a pulley, and under the frictional torque imparted to the spindle the top is set in rapid rotation, and the handle-like device is quickly lifted free from the top, leaving the top spinning on the surface of the playing board, whereupon the manipulation of the board is commenced in the manner already described. It may be remarked that the pulling of the draw-string through the recess l9 and out of contact with the spindle portion l3, relieves the spindle from the pressure of the leaf-spring, the spring being so arranged and designed that its stress is applied only to press the draw-string against the spindle and not bind against the spindle when the body of the draw-string is not positioned between the spring and the spindle portion [3. This clearance be tween the spring and the spindle when the drawstring is pulled away is indicated in Fig. 1. Such is the nature of the game or toy apparatus of the invention.

In inverting the spinning device, as shown in Fig. 3, the top l becomes a rotor upon which propeller P of sheet metal, or plastic, or the like may be freely seated, the propeller having a central perforation that receives the point 10 of the top,

with the pin means H, II extending upward through perforations in the propeller to prevent relative rotation between the propeller and the top. The top is set in rapid rotation by means of the draw-string, and thus the propeller is set in rotation, and in consequence of the screw action of the propeller in the atmosphere the propeller rises free from top and soars in the air, until its rotative energy is spent.

In refinement, the propeller-engaging pins I I may be tapered and inclined, as shown at Ha in Fig. 3a, with the effect that the impeller will not be disengaged from the pins while the top is being positively rotated under the pull of the string, but will be more readily disengaged from the top after the string has been pulled entirely through the recess and maximum rotary speed has been attained. This, and other variants and modifications are within the spirit of the invention defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device for spinning a top provided with a bearing tip at the bottom of the top body and a spindle extending upwardly from the top body, said device comprising a handle portion, a bearing portion adapted releasably to receive the spindle of said top, a draw-string, means for securing said draw-string in rotation-producing engagement with said spindle, and a 1eg-1ike element extending downwardly from said handle and arranged to support the handle portion at an interval above a surface upon which to spin the top, with said tip of the top positioned on or immediately above said surface.

2. In a top having an axial spindle extending upward from its body, and a device for spinning the top by means of a draw-string on a supporting surface; the invention described wherein said device comprises a handle portion having a terminal portion provided with two bearings aligned to receive said spindle and spaced to leave a medial portion of the spindle body exposed between the bearings and to provide a recess for the passage of said draw-string, a leg-like element extending downwardly from said device and adapted to rest on said surface and arranged to support said handle portion at an interval above said surface, and a leaf-sprin arranged on said terminal portion of the device to urge the body of said draw-string passed through said recess into frictional contact with the exposed body portion of said spindle, whereby the rapid pulling of the 5 draw-string through said recess is adapted to set said top in rapid rotation and to release said spindle from the frictional pressure of said spring, with the effect that said device may be lifted free from said spindle, leaving the top spinning freely on said surface.

3. In a top having an axial spindle extending upward from its body, and a device for spinning the top by means of a draw-string on a supporting surface; the invention described wherein said device comprises a handle portion having a terminal portion provided with two bearings aligned to receive said spindle and spaced to leave a medial portion of the spindle body exposed between the bearings and to provide a recess for the passage of said draw-string, a leg-like element extending downwardly from said device and adapted to rest on said surface and arranged to support said handle portion at an interval above said surface, friction means on said medial portion of the spindle body, and a leaf-spring arranged on said terminal portion of the device to urge the body of said draw-string passed through said recess into frictional contact with the exposed body portion of said spindle, whereby the rapid pulling of the draw-string through said recess is adapted to set said top in rapid rotation and to release said spindle from the frictional pressure of said spring, with the effect that said device may be lifted free from said spindle, leaving the top spinning freely on said surface.

OSCAR THORESEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,033,399 Heylman July 23, 1912 1,109,562 Wingert Sept. 1, 1914 1,364,632 Harrington Jan. 4, 1921 1,366,535 Harrington Jan. 25, 1921 1,407,027 Hall Feb. 21, 1922 1,771,489 Dochnal July 29, 1930 1,890,043 Murphree Dec. 6, 1932 2,184,459 Lapointe Dec. 26, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 5,082 Great Britain Dec. 11, 1895 136,741 Great Britain Dec. 24, 1919 

